The slump continues

There’s no other way to put it. What looked like a promising season just five weeks ago for Purdue football has turned into an utter disaster. In just five games the Boilermakers went from a 3-1 record—with their only loss a 3-point setback at Top-5 Notre Dame—to an 0-5 record in the Big Ten and a 3-6 record overall. The latest loss, a 34-9 loss at Ross-Ade Stadium to Penn State, was the third straight home loss in which the Boilers were beaten decisively.

Although Head Coach Danny Hope said after the game he felt his players were confident going into the game, I sense that the players have lost a great deal of confidence, especially when things don’t go their way during the course of the past five games.

Purdue Athletic Director Morgan Burke attended Coach Hope’s postgame press conference, which he normally does, but Burke didn’t make any public comments after the game. But the Boilermaker AD couldn’t have liked one bit what he saw Saturday. A game in which the attendance was listed at 40,000 but, in reality, the stadium was half-capacity at best. And, during the final minutes of the game there couldn’t have been more than 10,000 fans left on a chilly Saturday afternoon and evening.

I like Danny Hope a lot. And I give him credit for publicly handling himself in a cordial manner, even when asked after the game if he was concerned that he was going to get fired. And, as a member of the media, I can tell you this is not a pleasant situation to report on. Families are involved and people’s livelihoods are at stake.

Coach Hope will probably lose his job in the near future. It’s a decision that Burke won’t enjoy making because Hope was his hire and, essentially, the Boiler AD will be admitting to a mistake by hiring Hope to replace Joe Tiller.

I truly hope the Boilermakers can turn things around, defeat Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, and become bowl eligible. But I don’t think it will happen. And I think it will cost Coach Hope his job.